


Heavy

by Quoth



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Arc Reactor, Asthma, Bruce Banner is a bro, Clint Barton isn't sure he wants an AI in the fridge, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Natasha Romanov has more emotions than just Scary, Nobody has chocolate brown or blue orbs for eyes, PTSD, Phil Coulson gets it, Steve Rogers has been there, Team Dynamics, Thor wishes he could help, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is a grown-ass man, not a teenage girl, pre-slash with everyone if you want, sick-fic, team fic, touch deprived
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-22
Updated: 2013-07-02
Packaged: 2017-12-15 19:52:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/853408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quoth/pseuds/Quoth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Tony Stark develops breathing problems, the team comes together to get him through.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is completely written and will be updated Tuesdays and Fridays.

It was supposed to be a routine mission. Hell, it _was_  a routine mission, just a little reconnaissance around a suspected hideout of a new terrorist group intent on bringing the world back to a hunter gatherer state.

The base was located in the Adirondacks, deep in the woods and mostly buried beneath the loam. Natasha was scouting out access points and possible security weaknesses from the ground while Tony looked for electrical systems from above.

After 20 minutes of aerial recon, Tony Stark was ready to call it a day. He had all of the footage and scans they'd need of the area and unless they were going to go in, there was no point in hanging around.

He cleared his throat, "Let's wrap this up, Widow. I've got places to be, people to see - anything else you need?" He swooped down to hover over her position. They hadn't seen a soul and the infrared said nobody was nearby to notice the flashy armor.

She scowled up at him. The rest of the team was back at the Tower, waiting for them to deliver the intel. Tony already had JARVIS send his data to Bruce's computer in his lab, but Natasha had to wait until they were back to present her findings.

Tony idly wondered if she would ever consider a cybernetic implant to link her with JARVIS, but then decided he didn't want her having that kind of access to his systems.

"I think this is as much as we can get at this point. Unless you want to go inside?"

"Hell no. Who knows what kind of booby traps these people have in there. Better to let Cap go first." She smiled and raised an arm for Tony to grab so he could pull her up into the air with him. Because she would never consent to being carried bridal style, Natasha wrapped her arms around his neck and laid across his back as he started the flight back to Stark Tower.

Maybe it was the pollen in the air, or something about all the pine trees, but five minutes into the flight, Tony felt his throat get even grittier than it was before. He muted the comlink and tried to cough it out, but all that succeeded in doing was causing his throat to swell.

Air whistled in and out of his lungs and it felt like even though they were expanding, no air was really circulating. "JARVIS," he rasped. "Up the O2 sat."

A readout appeared to his left with his current oxygen intake and oxygen levels in the suit. Luckily, the flight to the Tower was only fifteen minutes long and they were already over the skyline.

Tony kept the com muted from his end as he landed on the helipad on the main level of Stark Towers. Natasha nimbly jumped off and then walked a few feet away so he could land and begin the dismantling process, but he rose back up into the air and dove over the edge for the workshop levels.

The HUD registered her yelling after him.

Tony landed hard in his main workshop and let the robots do their thing. The suit came off, but the reactor felt like a lead weight in his chest. When he was free, he staggered over to a workbench, sat down, and focused on his breathing.

What the hell was wrong with him?

Natasha found him like that a minute or two later. She stormed into his workshop and zeroed in on him immediately. "Stark, you know we have to report our findings. Tell JARVIS your brilliant idea and he'll save it for - Are you alright?"

He had one arm braced against the table and the other wrapped around his stomach. He was hunched down so that his head almost touched the chrome, but he raised his head reluctantly to look up at her.

"Lungs," he gasped. "It'll pass." He coughed again and the inhale was all wheeze. He was convinced that none of it made it into his lungs this time.

"Jesus, Stark, you idiot." Natasha came around to his side and sat on the table by his head. "JARVIS, there has to be an inhaler somewhere in the medical kits in this tower. Can you have one delivered to the workshop without using one of the team?"

Tony blessed her ability to read people.

"Certainly, Ms. Romanov."

She turned back to him. "Tony, you're having an asthma attack. You need to sit up and look at me." His vision was beginning to sparkle and he didn't think he could move. Surely he was okay like this?

She grabbed his arm and pulled him upright. Then she braced a hand on each shoulder and scooted over on the table until she was right in front of him, legs on either side. Natasha ducked her head to make eye contact. "You need to slow your breathing down or you _will_  pass out. Come on, in through your nose, out through your mouth."

He tried to do what she said, but he could feel his heart beating against the arc reactor and he couldn't stop running the probabilities of a malfunction in his head. He closed his eyes to concentrate.

She stopped holding him upright and started to run her hands up and down his upper arms. "Come on, Tony. One more minute and JARVIS will have the inhaler to us. Just keep breathing. You're getting air, even if it doesn't feel like it."

DUM-E rolled up to them and thunked the little metal device on the table next to them. Natasha grabbed it and held it up to his mouth. He almost gagged as the first spray hit the back of his throat, but he forced himself to inhale it.

Then another.

Then he was coughing, but his throat was clearing and finally, finally, he was able to breathe. Deep breath in, deep breath out. The relief hit him hard and he leaned forward to rest his head on her shoulder. His chest ached and he swore he could feel every inch of the arc reactor as it pressed against his lungs.

He crossed his arms tight so that he wouldn't try to rip it out.

Natasha brought a hand up to cup the back of his head, ruffling his hair. The other lightly traced soothing patterns on his back. She tilted her head, her cheek resting against his ear, and he was surrounded by the lingering scents of hot metal and pine sap from the mission and from his suit.

Tony relaxed a notch and realized he was starting to shake. Reaction to stress, pure and simple, but he wouldn't let it overcome him. He took a few more deep breaths and tried to ignore the pull of the metal embedded in his chest. Experience said it would take a few hours to quit being hyper aware of it again.

Natasha let him go when he sat up and regarded him steadily. He closed his eyes and rolled his neck, forcing the tension out of his muscles.

Her voice surprised him when she spoke for how rough it was. "This isn't the first time this has happened, is it?"

"No."

"Did Pepper help?"

He looked away and his mouth twisted. "Sometimes. She's wonderfully cool in the board room and in tense situations, but she doesn't handle medical situations very well." He thought for a second, then sighed. "I hate being made to feel guilty for being injured. Always have."

When she didn't speak, he glanced back up and saw from her expression that she got the rest of it. Of course, she'd read his file long before he'd read hers.

Natasha seemed to come to a decision and started to get up. "If it happens again, come find me. Come find any of us. Nobody will yell at you for something like this."

He nodded reluctantly and she left him there to recover his composure.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! New chapter up slightly sooner due to me being out adventuring tomorrow. Lucky ducks.
> 
> Also, this is un Beta'd, so critiques or comments are appreciated.

The next time it happened, he was at a press conference for the Avengers. Luckily, he wasn't the one speaking to the reporters this time. Cap was doing his all-american apple pie impression and charming the pants off the press with his mega watt smile. Natasha and Clint were on either side of him, looking suitably stoic and impressive. Bruce was doing his level best to disappear in the background and Thor was beaming at anyone who pointed a camera at him.

Tony should have been front and center with Steve, but he was in the middle of a tense negotiation with the Fujikama Corporation and needed to be able to text discreetly. He was between Clint and Thor and was using the god of Thunder to hide his communications and his distraction.

All at once, he felt his throat getting gritty and his chest starting to tighten. He tried to clear his throat and take a deep breath. Inhale, fine, exhale, fine, inhale - shit. He couldn't expand his lungs as much the second time.

Shit, shit, shit! He couldn't go down in front of the press. It would be in the news for weeks, Fujikama would back away from the deal, Fury would bench him - he needed to calm down. Think.

Tony pulled out his phone and frowned at it as if he were reading something of importance. Then he rolled his eyes theatrically and waved his phone at the reporters. Flashing his best playboy smile, he held the phone up to his ear and stepped away from the team. Clint frowned at him, but he shook his head and kept moving for the door.

On the other side of the door the automatic lights flicked on in front of him as he made his way down the hall. Luckily no one was in sight, so he dropped the smile and made a beeline for the bathroom. Once through the door, he checked to make sure all the stalls were empty before leaning against the cool wall and checking his pockets for his inhaler.

It wasn't there. At some point he must have either taken it out or left it in a jacket pocket. _When this is over_ , he vowed, _I'll make one into a belt buckle._

Plan B. Call Phil.

Tony slid to the floor and pulled his phone back out. The effort to keep pulling air into his uncooperative lungs was almost more painful than just passing out. He pulled up Jarvis and texted, _Call Phil. Rescue inhaler ASAP. Bathroom._

The screen flashed green to acknowledge the message and let him know it was done.

He tilted his head back against the cool tile and closed his eyes to focus on getting enough oxygen. A minute later the door was flung open and Agent Coulson burst into the room. Tony watched him take a second to do something clever to the doorknob before he turned to squat down in front of him. One second more to pull the inhaler out of his pocket and then Tony could pull in increasingly deep breaths of the slightly bitter mist.

Coulson reached over slowly (so Tony could see what he was doing) and placed his fingers on his wrist to take his pulse. After a minute or so, his breathing evened out and he was able to take in a shuddering breath without coughing at the end of it. Tony realized that Phil was still holding his hand, so he turned his wrist slightly and tightened his grip for a moment before letting go and wrapping his arms around his chest.

Agent Coulson never stopped studying him, but it was Phil who asked, "Better?" Tony was starting to be able to tell the difference.

Tony nodded and closed his eyes again to escape that searching gaze. He took a few seconds to get a hold of himself and smooth out his face before opening his eyes again. The bathroom was quiet, but the tile provided a slight echo that amplified the sound of his breathing. Tony's head was still pressed firmly against the wall behind him, making him look down his nose at their handler.

Phil remained kneeling in front of him, patiently waiting for Tony to tell him what he needed. His expression was professionally neutral and that somehow made it easier for Tony to say the next part.

"I think it's time I had a new set of x-rays done." He drew his knees up to his chest, but didn't make any moves to get up. "This isn't getting better and I've never had asthma before. It has to be related to the reactor."

Coulson's expression never changed, but he tilted his head to the side. "While I'm happy you're taking steps to solve this, are you sure it's the reactor?"

Tony snorted, "It's an 89% probability that it's reactor related, with an additional 10% for something purely biological, like cancer or just age. 1% remains for outside influences and being targeted somehow by someone up to no good." He looked over at the bottoms of the sinks to his left. They were rusting along the edges of their pipes. "I haven't had any x-rays since Afghanistan. I was awake when the original reactor was put in. I saw how much had to come out to make room for it, but I had calculated another five years before it became an issue."

It wasn't until Phil suddenly stood up that Tony realized how still the agent had been holding himself. He took the proffered hand and allowed himself to be pulled up. Phil gripped his arm briefly and then stepped back.

"I'll make the appointment with SHIELD medical."

Tony began brushing out his suit. "Absolutely not. Bruce can take the x-rays and JARVIS can run diagnostics. You and Natasha may supervise, the rest of the team can view the images if they so desire, but Fury and the rest of SHIELD are absolutely not to know about this. The images will stay locked down on my private server with the schematics, or I won't run the tests." Tony pulled out his cell phone and quickly began typing a reply to the latest round of messages from Fujikama and Pepper.

Coulson sighed and opened the door for him. "Then I'll schedule an appointment with Bruce and we can go from there. Hang on to the inhaler. I'll get another one from the quinjet's med kit."

Tony nodded and swept out the door into the hallway.

When he rejoined the press conference, his megawatt smile was firmly in place and his phone was pressed to his ear. Only Natasha noticed the slight tremor in his hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My ducklings, I'm so sorry I was a day late on this chapter. I was camping and the campsite ended up being awesome, so we stayed another night.
> 
> Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses.
> 
> Some liberties were taken with this chapter on arc reactor installation.

The third time might actually have been a panic attack.

The x-rays were complete and JARVIS had them projected in 3D in the middle of Tony's workshop. Overlays of the arc reactor schematics and previous x-rays from before the kidnapping highlighted just how fucked up the whole thing was and, just, Jesus his chest was a mess.

It was a solid minute before he could pull his gaze away from the hologram and look at the others in the room. Bruce, Natasha, and Phil were all just staring at the x-rays with complicated expressions on their faces. Bruce looked equal parts horrified and impressed. Phil was struggling to maintain a neutral expression, but sympathy shone through his mask. Natasha just looked worried.

He watched her take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she met his eyes and her gaze immediately sharpened. Tony realized that he had a hand over the reactor, but he didn't bother to remove it. He had no idea what expression was on his face at the moment, but he just felt kind of detached.

Tony looked back at the three dimensional display of his chest and forced himself to really study the anatomy, not the engineering marvel that kept him going. He was usually fine if he only focused on the arc reactor, while thoughts of his injuries brought back memories better left untouched. But even while his brain noted things like *reduced lung capacity* and *extensive scar tissue inside the chest cavity,* he kept seeing the scalpel coming towards him and smelling the sharp scent of disinfectant and dust.

He came back to himself with a shudder and realized that Bruce was speaking.

"- be more helpful if I had a record of what they actually did. Then I could figure out what's significant and what's changed. You really don't have any records from right after you got back?"

Tony shook his head, hand still held firmly over his reactor. He really didn't want to be discussing this, but maybe it had been long enough. Maybe he could get through it. Fuck it, everyone in this room had personally saved his life before, maybe they could do it again.

He put his back to the hologram anyway, because he just did not need to see that anymore. Not when he was convinced he could feel the extra weight in his chest again.

"I have one x-ray - JARVIS, make that available to Bruce and Bruce only. Otherwise, I can just tell you what they did, because I was awake for most of it. Well, until I passed out. And then I did have to build the housing for the reactor twice over and, um, install it."

Tony started to pace. "The problem probably stems from before the reactor when it was just a car battery with some wires stuck in my chest. They got yanked several times and then I kept getting shocked whenever they would hold me under the water. I don't know what the shocks did internally. When I was first back, I was pretty delirious. The military doctors took a look at me, but I got out of there as quickly as possible. Later, I had JARVIS go through and clean house. The records are gone."

He ran his other hand through his hair and scrubbed it down his face. He couldn't bear to actually look at anyone and he hoped they wouldn't interrupt because he doubted he'd be able to say it twice. "I remember them having to saw through my sternum to clear the extra space for the reactor. The initial explosion on the road made most of the hole, but it wasn't very even. They also needed to cut out a small bit of the lungs that had already been damaged." Tony sighed, "They told me it was from the shrapnel, but I suspect that it was from the wires on the car battery.

"Then there's the shrapnel itself and the actual problems with my heart. The reactor solves those issues, but creates more just by being in. It's heavy."

That last bit was out of his mouth before he could think about what he was really saying. Tony shook his head in a vain attempt to clear the memories, but he was still tense and he couldn't unwrap his arms from his chest. The exact details of that surgery were forced away in a dark corner of his mind, only to ever show up in screaming nightmares. He would not let them swamp him now.

A hand reached for his shoulder and he flinched, hard. Natasha's face was suddenly right in front of his, her eyes dark with worry. He gasped, but he couldn't get a breath in and that was it. Panic took over.

Tony's knees buckled and he dropped to the floor. He tried to curl into a ball, but Bruce kept him upright with an arm around the shoulders. Phil, meanwhile, had gone for the drawer with the inhaler (because Tony had made sure there was one in every room a few days before) and ran back to press one into his hand. Tony automatically brought it up to his mouth, but it didn't seem to be as effective as it usually was.

Bruce used his arm around Tony's shoulder to turn him towards him. "Tony? You have to calm down or the medicine won't be able to work. You're okay, you're just panicking. Slow your breathing down."

"Easy... for you... to say," he gasped, but he tried to match his breaths to Bruce's deliberately slow ones.

Eventually, his breathing came easier and Bruce let him go. Tony folded over himself to rest his head on the floor, exhausted. His arms were still wrapped protectively around his chest, but fuck it. Surely he was allowed to comfort himself however he saw fit after this.

Natasha brushed a hand through his hair and he couldn't stop the whimper that came out. It had been a long time since Pepper was around and even longer since she touched him with any sort of affection. He was just so damn tired of having to deal with _everything_  on his own. Just because he could, didn't mean he wanted to.

Natasha ran her fingers through his hair more firmly this time. Tony took that as permission to lean forward and bury his head in her lap. He curled his knees around her back, wrapped his arms around her waist and let her hold him as much as he clung to her. He didn't think it would have occurred to anyone to seek comfort from Natasha, but he was lonely and in pain and he just needed someone else to be strong for a few minutes. Natasha was rock solid.

The workshop floor was cold, but he could feel a warmth settling in at his back. Natasha tensed for a second and if Tony hadn't been wrapped around her, he never would have noticed it. Bruce must have sat down with them.

A hip was solidly in the small of his back and another hand was running up and down his side. He could smell cordite and cinnamon on Natasha, with bits of aftershave from Bruce and motor oil from the workshop. Both of them were warm and Tony felt the tension run out of him under their hands.

Distantly, he heard JARVIS inform him that someone was requesting permission to enter. Footsteps retreated from somewhere near his head and Phil said, "I'll handle it."

For an indeterminate amount of time, Tony allowed himself to drift.

After a while, he unwrapped himself from Natasha and rolled over onto his back. She and Bruce were facing opposite directions and both were looking down at him with identical expressions. What they were expressing, he wasn't sure, but it looked complicated.

DUM-E rolled up to them and cautiously offered him a smoothie. It was teal, but Tony roused himself enough to take it anyway. "Thanks, buddy," he said and pretended to take a sip. The robot bobbed twice and trundled off to the end of the workshop, his comforting complete. Bruce watched it leave, clearly amused.

Then he looked back down at him. "Tony, I'll take a look at everything and see what I can come up with, even if it's just a more effective inhaler. We should probably also work on some sort of addition to the suit in case you need to medicate during a mission.

"In the meantime, just make sure you've always got an inhaler on you and let us - any of us - know if you need help. I can have a word with Thor, if you want, about human biology."

Tony nodded, grateful that he wasn't going to need to do that himself.

Bruce gave him one last squeeze on the shoulder and stood up. He reached a hand down and Tony allowed himself to be pulled up. The x-rays were still floating off to their right, but Tony didn't feel as bothered by them anymore.

Natasha rose up silently behind him. "I see Coulson getting fidgety over by the door. He's trying to be discreet, but something's up. I have to go." She started moving away, but turned her head to say, "If I'm around, you can always call me. If I'm not, the team has your back. Just trust them."

Bruce gave Tony one last nod before following Natasha out to head back to his lab.

\---------------------------------------

In the air vents above the workshop, Clint watched Tony stare at their retreating backs until they were out of sight. Then the billionaire sighed and waved a hand to get rid of the x-rays from the center of the main work table. When he called up a schematic for the armor's left glove, Clint quietly retreated.


	4. Chapter the Last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I stretch science to suit my needs and Bruce becomes Q. Not one bit ashamed.

Two days later, Tony was in Bruce's lab looking at a little white pill.

"It's a solid form of albuterol with an extra additive to make it vaporize when it hits saliva. You hold it in your mouth and inhale the vapor as it melts."

Tony, raised an eyebrow. "So it's a breath mint inhaler."

"Yes, but it tastes disgusting. Sorry, couldn't fix that, but at least you can pop one from an Altoid tin and nobody will be the wiser."

"Alright, I can go with that. I already added a nebulizer to the suit so that JARVIS can pump medication if need be. I was thinking of making a few concealed inhalers for the rest of the team in case the suit gets damaged in some way. It's not without precedent."

"I'm sure nobody would mind. We might just need to have a team meeting to bring everyone up to speed and to make sure they know when and how to use them."

Tony looked away at that and grimaced. "You really think it needs to be that formal of a thing? I'm sure everyone knows how these things work anyway." He picked up an inhaler from the counter and fiddled with it.

Bruce pushed on, "I spoke with Thor, by the way. He was most concerned, but surprisingly willing to shut up about how puny humans are and just learn what he could." He paused and started cleaning his glasses. "Have you told Cap or Clint yet?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "I'm sure Natasha and Phil filled - ha! - Clint in on what's going on. Although, come to think of it, they do love their secrets. Have you seen Clint lately? Maybe they told him and then had to kill him."

It was Bruce's turn to roll his eyes. "So that's a no then. What about Steve?"

"What about him? I have a sparring session with him in a few minutes. In fact, I should be on my way over there right now. I bet being late is unamerican or something and he'll be getting his spangled underwear in a twist."

Tony began edging out of the room, but Bruce put a hand on his arm to stop him. A look from Tony and he quickly dropped his hand. Today was a different situation from two days ago and they were still navigating the uncharted territories of their strange relationship. 

Bruce dropped his gaze as well, "He won't bench you, you know. We wouldn't let  
him." He looked back up. "You know he's pretty good with strategy. I think he should be told so he can plan for it."

Tony held his gaze for a second and then nodded, once. "I'll take it into consideration. If the opportunity arises, I'll tell him."

\------------------------

Of course, it didn't go that way.

Tony actually looked forward to sparring with Cap. Plus, he really needed the workout. He'd had too many meetings lately and spent too much time in his workshop creating new code for various projects. For once, he needed the rhythm of the workout to clear his mind.

Even though Rogers was the better hand to hand fighter when Tony was out of his suit, it was still a challenge for the serum-enhanced man to spar with him. Rogers had to practice control while pulling his punches, and Tony was a creative fighter - especially if he could use the objects around him. Tony was smart enough to not develop a pattern to his offense that Steve could use against him.

Still, it wasn't long before Tony felt his breath hitch. Pushing through, breathing hard, he kept up his attack and threw a punch from the left to make Steve block and quickly followed with a kick from the right.

Rogers concentrated on sweeping his leg to the side and blocking the next punch before saying, apropos of nothing, "I used to have asthma, you know, before. I remember how scary it was to have your body fail to function on such a simple level."

Tony's concentration broke for a second, but he kept up his attack. Somewhere in the depths of the hard drive that was his brain, he remembered that fact. How had he not recalled it earlier?

"I say that because I can hear the breath starting to whistle in your chest. We should take a breather and let it settle down. How long has this been going on?"

Tony turned and punched at his head, hard, but Steve caught his fist on his palm and pushed lightly back. *Screw it,* he thought and pulled away to go lean on the ropes while he caught his breath. 

Steve stayed in the middle of the ring for a few seconds before walking over to stand against the padded post in the corner. He crossed his arms and just waited.

Tony eventually turned towards him, but stayed propped up on the ropes. "If you can hear that, can you also hear the arc-reactor running?"

Steve concentrated for a second and then raised his eyebrows. "I can, actually. It's a faint hum. I never noticed."

Tony frowned, "I didn't think it was all in my head. If you can hear it, others will be able to, too. I need to figure out how to stop the vibration." Rogers opened his mouth again, but Tony waved him silent. "I know, I know, you want to know how long this has been going on."

Steve closed his mouth and just looked at him, expression completely neutral.

Tony ran a hand through his hair and sighed, pleased to note the lack of hitch this time. "It's been an issue since the arc-reactor was, uh, installed. It took a while to learn how to breathe around it. I calculated that the scar tissue would become a problem in ten years or so, but it seems to have only taken five."

At Rogers surprised look, he added, "So basically, it's only been a problem for the past two months or so."

"Have you had any x-rays done to see if it's anything more serious?"

"I had Bruce take a look at it," he said and carefully schooled his expression to one of studied indifference. "We're coming up with suit enhancements and other little gadgets, but it looks to me like my clock is ticking in terms of still being able to fight. I'll trust you to let me know when the time is right to step down."

They locked gazes and Steve studied him for a minute, his expression grave, but he didn't try and protest that it wasn't necessary. "Thank you, but I think you need to remember that you're still the best engineer on the planet. You'll always have a place on the team."

Tony let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and relaxed. "Can we go back to punching each other now?" he asked plaintively. "It's been a long week."

Cap grinned and lunged at him. 

\----------------------

Tony called a team meeting in the Tower a week later. 

When they were all seated in the living room, he began without preamble, "Unlike most of you, I've got a shelf life. No, seriously, I'm just human." He didn't wait for them to react, just started pacing around the room and snapping his fingers. He was never particularly still at the best of times and felt like they could just deal with it while he got everything out.

"Basically, the arc-reactor, while pretty damn cool, is really invasive. It's causing some interesting problems - namely, asthma. I had Bruce run some tests and the end result is that this probably isn't going to get better since the scar tissue on my lungs is pretty extensive."

Tony flicked a gaze at the group, but they were all holding themselves perfectly still. Bruce nodded at him encouragingly. "We came up with some gadgets for the suit and for use in public. I don't want this getting out or it will be used against me by every two-bit villain. If I made you guys concealed inhalers as backups in case my suit is damaged, would you wear them?"

They all started talking at once and he had to wave them quiet, but the gist of it was that they were all on board with the inhaler plan. He'd examine the warm fuzzies that gave him later. Some time when he could have a stiff drink.

"Good. Glad we got that out of the way." Tony stopped pacing and faced the pile of superheros on the couch. His expression was deadly serious. "In other news, I want to install an AI in the refrigerator."

There was a pause while everyone thought about that. Thor raised his hand hesitantly to ask, "Why?"

Tony started pacing again, unable to contain the shaky energy the previous discussion had given him. "Why not? Just think! Seriously guys, it could be a refrigerator that would make a smoothie for you if you asked."

"But it's an AI. It'll need to learn. I don't want to taste experimental smoothies, man. That is a learning curve I'd want to skip." Clint seemed to be the voice of reason in this discussion, which was a terrifying thought.

"Well, what if I -"

JARVIS' cool voice interrupted. "Sir, Director Fury is on the line for Captain Rogers."

Steve automatically stood up, at attention. "Sir? The team is all here."

"Some idiot with a shrink ray is trying to shrink all the major monuments in the US. We just got reports that he's waving the gun around at the Statue of Liberty and has already shrunk a few boats. Get your asses out there ASAP and take the gun away from him!"

Steve looked over to where Tony had finally stopped his pacing. When he looked up, Captain America held his gaze and barked, "Avengers, assemble!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you have it, one whole fic. I know Clint and Thor didn't figure very prominently in here, but I have trouble writing Thor. Clint just didn't have strong opinions this time, but for the record, I am a big fan of any Clint-and-Tony-being-bros fics (any rec's?). 
> 
> Anyone know why it changed the number of chapters to ? and how I can change it back to reflect that this is the last? Also, since I wrote this on my tablet and it's un-beta'd, let me know if there are any glaring errors so I can fix them. 
> 
> Playlist for this fic includes:  
> Hurt - Johnny Cash  
> Are You Alright? - Lucinda Williams  
> Shelter For My Soul - Anthony Williams / Ned Kelly Soundtrack  
> Radioactive - Imagine Dragons


End file.
